How do you deal with the loss of a pet?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(J.Wilkie @ Mar 14 2007, 03:23 PM) [snapback]405609[/snapback]</div>

This is akin to telling a widower to remarry right away. Or a young couple they can still have children.

Grief is different for different people. For some adopting a new pet is a way to honor the memory of their old one and so they move on quickly to adopt a new pet. For others it takes a long time to grieve. I know I would not have been ready for a new puppy when Caesar died. In fact, I actually said to my other dog "Why did he have to die? Why couldn't it have been you?" Yes, I actually said that. That's what grief does to you. I resented him because he picked on Caesar the last year of his life. He was a bully and I resented that Caesar got cancer and he didn't. Luckily he was totally clueless and had no idea what I was talking about. The last thing a new adopted pet needs is to be resented or constantly compared with the memory of the recently deceased pet and constantly found wanting. For some people it takes some time to heal. Caesar died Nov. 13. I didn't get a new puppy until the following April.

When you're ready for a new pet, you just know.

 

Congratulations on your new addition to the family! Scout is beautiful. Looks a lot like my Jasper.

 

I'm glad to hear you're doing okay livelychick. Many congrats on your new furry baby. Scout has such beautiful markings and coloring. He/She looks very special and is a lucky kitty to have found such a good, loving home.

 

Congrats on the new kitty.

That's quite a coat on her.

Do cats let you brush them like dogs do?

 

Condolences and congratulations. Glad to hear your doing OK.

 

Jasper loves being brushed/combed. And it helps cut down on the shedding factor. You really have to keep long hair felines brushed or their fur will mat up.

 

aww, beautiful kitty. getting to know him/her might occupy your mind enough to help you.

 

Sorry about your loss. I've never lost a pet but I've witnessed on more than one occasion the incredible grief that comes with a loved family member. A couple who had lost their cat came in to see me last year. Both were crying inconsolably. I felt helpless. They wanted some xanax. I wrote it for them.

 

What a cutie! We have a cat that looks like that and she's fat and lazy. She's very cute, however. She's the only cat I've ever met that can be laying on the couch and FALL OFF!!! I'm not kidding. If she starts slipping, she actually expects us to push her back up. If we don't see her slipping.....thud. Soooo not normal.

Anyway, glad to see you've a new addition. I know there's no way to replace a deceased pet as they're all so different and even evoke different emotions. But I found that it did help to have the others to take care of while I was grieving. I hope you encounter this, that it does help. By the way, beautiful markings!

 

Garden Birdbath